Strand guide



April 19, 1955 A, F PlEPER 2,706,604

STRAND GUIDE Filed April 29. 1953 Fla? INVENTOR. ALPHONSE F PlEPE/ BY wM*- ATTORNEY United States Patent O STRAND GUIDE Alphonse F. Pieper,Brighton, N. Y.

Application April 29, 1953, Serial No. 351,953

5 Claims. (Cl. 242-157) This invention relates to a strand guide such asemployed in winding machinery, with reference more particularly to astrand guide formed of refractory non-conducting material such asdisclosed in Patent No. 2,579,011, December 18, 1951, and has for itspurpose to afford a strand guide that eliminates fraying and wear of thesynthetic yarn or other material traveling over the guide resulting fromformation of static electricity on the outer surface of the guideagainst which the strand engages when traveling through the guide.

Strand guides of refractory material have been developed to obviate thewear and short life of metal strand guides, and it has been found thatin the use of refractory strand guides, a charge of static electricityis produced over the strand-engaging surface of the guide which causesfraying and wear of the strand as it passes thereover, and it is anobjective of this invention to prevent the formation of such staticelectricity or to carry off the static charge as soon as it is produced,and thus obviate any effect on the strand that would otherwise resultfrom an electrostatic charge on the surface of the guide, due to thestrand traveling over and rubbing agairlist the surface ofnon-conducting refractory materia A further purpose of the invention isto provide simple, practical, and relatively inexpensive means forconducting an electrostatic charge away from the strand-engaging surfaceof a guide formed of refractory non-conducting material through theinstrumentality of a current-conducting element located in or adjacentto the strand-engaging surface of the guide and connected electricallywith the metal supporting arm on which the guide is mounted.

T these and other ends, the invention consists in the construction andarrangement of parts that will appear clearly from the followingdescription when read in con- F junction with the accompanying drawings,the novel features being pointed out in the claims following thespecication.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation view of a strand guide mounted on asupporting arm and constructed in accordance with a preferred embodimentof the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. 1 looking in thedirection indicated;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig. 3 looking in thedirection indicated;

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the locking plate which holds theconducting insert in position;

Fig. 6 is a view in rear elevation of the guide;

Fig. 7 is a plan View of a modified form of the invention, and

Fig. 8 is a sectional view on line 8-8 of Fig. 7.

Referring more particularly to the drawings in which like referencenumerals refer to the same parts throughout the several views, and toFigs. 1 to 6 inclusive, 1 designates a supporting bar which is ofconventional construction such as heretofore used for holding a strandguide in operative position on a winding machine, the supporting barincluding inclined side edges 2 that engage and grip cooperatinginclined surfaces on the guiding head, as will appear presently.

The guiding head is formed of any suitable non-conducting refractoryhard material such as Heanium, and includes spaced prongs 3 at its outerend between ICC which the strand passes at the base of the recess 4, anda generally convex strand-engaging surface 5 on its outer face which thestrand contacts as it travels thereover to an adjacently positioned coneor cylinder, in accord with well known practices in the winding machineart.

The strand-engaging surface 5 is on the outer face of the guiding headwhile its opposite face is provided with a channel including theinclined surfaces against which the inclined edges 2 of the supportingbar engage, as described above. The guiding head is held in place on thesupporting bar by means of a bolt 6 which extends through the supportingbar 1 and has threaded engagement with a nut 7 that is slidable endwiseof the guiding head in an undercut groove of less width than the channeland located thereunder. The inclined edges 8 on the nut are held againstcorrespondingly inclined surfaces on the undercut groove by means of thebolt 6 when the latter is tightened, thus locking the guiding headtightly on the supporting bar.

With such a structure, considerable static electricity is formed on thestrand-engaging surface on the outer face of the head, and to overcomethis and carry off such electrostatic charge, there is providedcurrent-conducting means extending from the strand-engaging surface tothe supporting bar which is mounted on the frame of the machine, thusoperating to` carry off any electric charge that may be formed on theouter face of the head and prevent its having effect on the strands ofyarn or other fibers passing thereover, and one means by which this isaccomplished will now be described.

In the preferred form as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive, theguiding head is provided with an opening extending therethrough from itsouter to its inner face, the outer portion of said opening being shallowand located centrally of the strand-engaging surface with a shape toreceive a generally oblong or oval-shaped metal current-conductingelement or insert 9 that lits into the shallow recess in the outer faceof the head and is flush with the strand-engaging surface thereof.

The metal conducting insert 9 has a threaded opening that receives athreaded pin 11 formed as part of a locking plate 12 which seats againsta shoulder within the guiding head surrounding a reduced opening throughwhich extends the threaded pin 11 and the internally threaded collar 13formed as part of the metal insert 9 and into which the pin 11 isthreaded. The locking plate 12 is provided with notches 14 to enableconveniently tightening it in the collar 13. The shoulder against whichthe locking plate 12 rests is at the bottom of an enlarged opening 15within the guiding head that receives a coil spring 16 surrounding thebolt 6 and compressed between the locking nut 7 and the locking plate12.

After the metal insert 9 is positioned and secured in place by thelocking plate 12, the spring 16 is inserted into the opening above thelocking plate 12, referring to Fig. 4, and the locking nut 7 is theninserted into the groove in which it is finally located by sliding itendwise of the head, while depressing the spring 16 to maintain it undertension between the locking nut 7 and the locking plate 12. Thus whenthe head' is attached to the supporting bar 1 by tightening the bolt 6and clamping the head on to the supporting bar, there is acurrentconducting circuit from the strand-engaging surface of the headto the supporting bar through the metal insert 9 which is flush with thestrand-engaging surface, thence through the locking plate 12, metalspring 16, nut 7, and bolt 6 to the supporting bar. In this manner, anyelectrostatic charge developed on the strand-engaging surface of thehead is immediately carried off and the lsltraid is in no way affectedby static charges on the In the form of the invention illustrated inFigs. 7 and 8, the head is provided with a current-conducting band 17that extends transversely across the strand-engaging surface of thehead, around the sides of the head, and over the rear edges thereof intothe channel in which the supporting bar is located. Thus when thesupporting bar is in position, it is in contact with the conducting band17 and any electrostatic charge developed on the outer surface of thehead is thus carried olf to the supporting bar and fraying of the strandis prevented. The band 17 lay be of any suitable conducting materialpreferably .ich as lead solder that is adhered to a silver band 18 iatis rst attached to the surface of the refractory ma- :rial in anysuitable fashion and forms a bond thererith, the lead solder conductingband being readily atachable to the silver band in any suitable fashion.The onducting band may be attached to any meal band or ayer that willadhere to the refractory body.

While the invention has been described with reference o the particularstructure shown herein, the application s not confined to the detailsdisclosed and is intended o cover any modifications or departures comingWithin he purposes of the improvement and the scope of the 'ollowingclaims.

I claim:

1. A strand guide of refractory non-conducting mate- 'ial having on itsouter face a generally convex strand- :ngaging surface which a strandcontacts when traveling ;hrough the guide and having a channel in itsopposite Eace to receive a metal supporting bar, and current-conductingmeans located in electrical contact with said strand-engaging surfaceand extending from said strandengaging surface to said supporting bar.

2. A strand guide of refractory non-conducting material having on itsouter face a generally convex strandengaging surface which a strandcontacts when traveling through the guide and having a channel in itsopposite face to receive a metal supporting bar, and current-conductingmeans located in electrical contact with said strand-engaging surfaceand extending from said strandengaging surface over the outer face ofthe guide and around a side thereof to a point adjacent to and incontact with the supporting bar.

3. A strand guide of refractory non-conducting material having on itsouter face a generally convex strandengaging surface which a strandcontacts when traveling through the guide and having in its oppositeface a channel to receive a metal supporting bar, the strand guidehaving an opening extending therethrough from its outer face to saidchannel in its inner face, a current-conducting element located in saidopening in the center of and ush with said strand-engaging surface, andcurrent-conducting means extending from said current-conducting elementthrough said opening to the metal supporting 4. A strand guide ofrefractory non-conducting material having on its outer face a generallyconvex strandengaging surface which a strand contacts when travelingthrough the guide and having a channel in its opposite face to receive ametal supporting bar, the strand guide having an opening extendingtherethrough from its outer face to said channel in its inner face, aninsert of currentconducting material located in said opening flush withand arranged centrally of said strand-engaging surface, a locking platearranged in said opening against a retaining shoulder and havingthreaded engagement with said conducting insert, a locking nutpositioned in an undercut groove between said supporting bar and saidlocking plate, a bolt extending through an opening in said supportingbar and having threaded engagement With the aforesaid nut, and a metalcoil spring located between said locking nut and said locking plate andacting to complete a circuit from said conducting insert to saidsupporting bar.

5. A strand guide of refractory non-conducting material having on itsouter face a generally convex strandengaging surface which a strandcontacts when traveling through the guide and having a channel in itsopposite face to receive a metal supporting bar, the strand guide alsohaving an undercut groove adjacent to said channel and an openingextending through from its outer face to said channel in its inner face,said opening including an enlarged portion adjacent to said undercutgroove, a reduced portion affording a shoulder adjacent to said enlargedportion, and an elongated generally oblong portion arranged centrally ofand extending transversely of said convex surface, an elongatedgenerally oblong current-conducting insert arranged in said elongatedopening flush with said strand-engaging surface and having an internallythreaded collar extending into said reduced portion of the opening, alocking plate positioned against said shoulder and having a threaded pinin engagement with said threaded collar, a locking nut positioned insaid undercut groove, a bolt extending through an opening in saidsupporting bar and having threaded engagement with the aforesaid nut,and a metal coil spring arranged in said enlarged portion of the openingand engaging the locking nut and locking plate at its ends.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,895,165 Madden Jan. 24, 1933 1,912,256 Coradi May 30, 1933 2,202,937Wolfe June 4, 1940 2,256,568 Nelson Sept. 23, 1941 2,293,983 JacksonAug. 25, 1942 2,307,664 Brookshire Ian. 5, 1943 2,579,011 Pieper Dec.18, 1951

